Florida State defenders receiver All-ACC honors

The Florida State Seminoles are favored entering Saturday's ACC Championship game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. But before they strap up on Saturday night, eight defensive players on the Seminoles earned all-conference honors, including four players on the first team.

Defensive ends Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine along with cornerback Xavier Rhodes and safety Lamarcus Joyner all were named to the first team. It was the first time since 1996 -- when Peter Boulware and Reinard Wilson were on the Seminoles -- that they took both first-team defensive end spots:

"They've been great all year," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said of Werner and Carradine. "I saw Boulware and Wilson. I didn't get to coach with them, and I know their numbers might have been a little higher, but these guys are pretty dadgum good themselves."

Senior place-kicker Dustin Hopkins was also named to the first team, but not a single player on the Seminoles' roster landed on the first team for offense. Quaterback E.J. Manuel, running back Chris Thompson and offensive linemen Cameron Erving, Tre' Jackson and Bryan Stork all were named to the second-team offense.

The ACC championship game will be Saturday night with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. The game will take place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. and will be broadcast on ESPN.